Why diet soda causes weight gain

Malik also notes that compared to drinking regular sodas and other sugary drinks , diet options seem to be better. She also references two randomized, controlled trials that showed less weight gain drinking diet vs regular. But it's likely a combo of that and some other mechanism. Though both experts agree the evidence is sparse and more research is needed and in progress , they cite a few viable scientific explanations for the connection between diet soda and weight gain.

Here are the most promising four. This then might influence you to consume more sugar or sweet things in general, which rock-solid evidence shows is linked to weight gain. One area of research focuses on how artificial sugars trigger sweetness receptors in the brain.

Our bodies expect that after a sweet taste , an influx of calories will follow. But with artificial sweeteners, they don't, so your brain gets confused. Some experts believe this disconnect leaves the body craving those calories it now thinks are missing, leading to overeating and ultimately, weight gain.

Eating sugar signals our bodies to produce insulin to process it, and some studies have suggested that the same response happens even when we eat the fake stuff.

Over time, too much insulin output can lead to insulin-resistance, weight gain, and type 2 diabetes. One study from suggests a connection between artificial sweeteners, the gut microbiome, and glucose intolerance. Again, researchers are intrigued, but the evidence isn't solid yet. Some skeptical scientists point out that association is not the same as causation.

Maybe not, but researchers have developed several theories that could very well explain why drinking diet soda causes weight gain. One or more of them are likely enough to be true that everyone who drinks diet soda should consider stopping now. Insulin, secreted by the pancreas, is how the human body stores sugar. When the taste of artificial sweeteners in soda, yogurt, or anything else hits your brain, it automatically sends a signal to your pancreas to begin producing insulin.

Insulin is what tells our cells to either use sugar as food or store it as fat--without it, our bodies can't process the sugar that lands in our bloodstreams. When your pancreas produces insulin to deal with anticipated sugar, but then no sugar arrives, it confuses your body and disrupts its metabolic process.

This may explain why several studies have shown a link between regularly drinking diet soda and metabolic syndrome, a collection of symptoms that includes larger waist circumference, higher blood pressure, and higher blood sugar. You probably know or have observed that the more regularly you taste something sweetness, saltiness, etc. This is why people who stop eating sugar or salt suddenly find many commercially available foods extremely salty potato chips, for instance or extremely sweet candy bars.

Artificial sweeteners can induce glucose intolerance by altering the gut microbiota, according to a study in Nature. Not all recent studies find a link between artificial sweeteners and weight gain. Two industry-funded studies did not. The International Life Sciences Institute, a nonprofit that produces science for the food industry, is controversial among public health experts due to its funding from chemical, food and pharmaceutical companies and potential conflicts of interest, according to a article in Nature.

There is strong evidence that industry-funded studies in biomedical research are less trustworthy than those funded independently. A study in PLOS One by Daniele Mandrioli, Cristin Kearns and Lisa Bero examined the relationship between research outcomes and risk of bias, study sponsorship and author financial conflicts of interest in reviews of the effects of artificially sweetened beverages on weight outcomes.

Right to Know. Nonnutritive sweeteners and cardiometabolic health: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials and prospective cohort studies. CMAJ July 17, vol. PMID: PMID: abstract.